Julien Dubuque

Dubuque, Julien (dəbyōkˈ) [key], 1762–1810, pioneer settler of Iowa, b. Nicolet co., Que. Setting out at a young age for the West, Dubuque reached Prairie du Chien, in what is now Wisconsin, by 1785 and crossed to the Iowa side of the Mississippi, then in Spanish Louisiana. He ingratiated himself with a band of Fox encamped at a site nearby the present-day city of Dubuque, and by a written cession they gave (1788) him sole right to work their lead mines. This right was confirmed, and the first landholdings in Iowa to be given to a private individual were granted to him by Baron Carondelet, governor of Louisiana. For 20 years Dubuque worked the mines and traded in furs, employing indigenous people and French Canadian settlers. He retained the confidence of the Native Americans and was buried by them—with the honors of a chief—on a bluff overlooking the city named for him.